(Cornell Chronicle) Uncovering ‘Terroir’: Project to Explore Plant-Environment Interactions

The laboratory of Allison, Miller, PhD, member, Danforth Plant Science Center is part of a new project led by Cornell researchers that will explore how genetically identical grapevines adapt to differences in temperature, humidity, soils and other environmental factors in New York, Missouri and South Dakota.

The $2.3 million project, funded by the National Science Foundation, will aid grape growers and winemakers as they cope with increasingly erratic climate conditions by uncovering the most adaptable varieties.

“A chardonnay vine in New York and a chardonnay vine in France are genetic twins, which means you can specifically explore how the plant genome interacts with its environment,” said Jason Londo, associate professor in the School of Integrative Plant Science’s Horticulture Section at Cornell AgriTech.

Miller and Londo are working with colleagues at Pennsylvania State University, South Dakota State University, Missouri State University.

In the current project, those young vines have been cloned and transplanted in three different locations, in New York, Missouri and South Dakota. Assessing how genetically identical plants perform in the cold and wet climate of New York, the hot and wet environment of Missouri, and the cold and dry environment of South Dakota will enable researchers to make recommendations tailored to grape growers in each location.

Read the full story from Cornell Chronicle.